Sacred and Profane: How Looters, Pothunters, and the Illicit Artifact Market Trammel Native American Cultural Identity

Bryan W. Wolford

Abstract

The article examines the pervasiveness of the illicit Native American artifact market, the practices of looters and pothunters, and federal and state laws enacted to punish individuals who wrongfully obtain or deal in wrongfully obtained Native American cultural property. The first section of this Article delineates the structure and coverage of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA). The second section describes the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and how the Act affects individuals. The third section explores different statutes that individual states have enacted to expand scope of the protection of federal laws regarding cultural property to state-owned public lands and even on to private property. The paper concludes with recommendations for the individual states to consider in an effort to better protect cultural property from looters and from the illicit artifact market.